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Experiments in Married Life – Episode 1

“There, she goes again. There is one more post by Radhika. I can’t take it any more. She posted almost thirty pictures of her honey moon,” said Sheila to her husband, Rohan.

Rohan listened silently while doing his work on his laptop.

“Look at the number of likes she is getting. Please do something. We posted only hundred and fifty pictures after our honeymoon. She has crossed already two hundred. And, we went to a better place than them,” continued Sheila.

Unable to control himself any more, Rohan said, “Don’t we have better thing to be worried in life. Look at our cute little one. Shouldn’t we be thinking about him? Shouldn’t be we planning to buy some more toys for him? Within a few months, he will be crawling. It’s been two years since our honey moon. People Expermnever bothered about selfies, then. So, we did not have so many pictures like them. Isn’t she your college bestie? Where does this competition come from? Can’t you be happy for her?” asked Rohan.

“I knew it. You will always support her. You always take her side. You don’t like me. I wonder if you feel sad you did not meet her before our marriage,” said Sheila.

Rohan realized that it is time to step out of this discussion decently before his wife can stoop down to further depths. He said, “Come on Sheila. I just, am, worried about your happiness. Every time you compare about this girl or any girl, a frown appears on your face. Every time you frown, it is obvious that you are displeased about something. I want you to think of things that make you happy. I want you to focus on happiness. I want to do everything to make you happy. I just feel like diverting your attention to make you happy.”

Sheila felt happy that things turned out in her favor and said, “If you are really so concerned about my happiness, you must plan for that second honey moon trip that I have been asking for the last few months. Let us post more pictures than Radhika. Let us have double the fun. Let us take our kid and let him enjoy. Nothing else can make me happy at this moment.”

Rohan said, “Are you sure? This is just the second time I am hearing from you about the second honey moon trip. You have not been asking for since so many months. Ever since your friend left for honey moon, this itch started and you have been bugging me in the last one week.”

Sheila realized that things are not turning as expected for her. She retaliated angrily, “How can you be so inattentive? You never listen to anything I say. You never understand my desires. You never try to feel my pain. Do you even know what I’m going through? You are a man. You will never understand the pain a woman goes through before, during, and after a delivery. All you have to do is play with the kid. I should take care of the kid when he is in me and also after he has come out. You never understand how difficult is the delivery time for every woman. You are the one who read somewhere that it is equal to rebirth for every woman. How can you become so indifferent?”

Rohan did not see this coming. He tried to brave the odds for a while and said, “Who is talking about your pregnancy and delivery now? I’m just talking about the fact that you have a new desire every other week and you say that you have been asking this for the past six months. How can I keep track of all you wises, desires, whims, and fancies?”

Sheila felt the advantage again, “Is it wrong for me to want a few days of rest and vacationing. The last eighteen months have been so tiresome for me. So, isn’t it obvious that a vacation will help me rewind a bit? I was waiting all this while. A loving husband would have deciphered my struggle and surprised me with a vacation plan for now. I doubt if you love me as much as I love you. I do everything for you even before you ask for it. I anticipate your needs and plan everything for you. But, you don’t even think about me. Do you really love me?”

Rohan realized that he made a huge mistake by trying to argue with his wife. He wanted to regain control of the situation. He said, “I’m sorry I talked about your pregnancy and delivery. I really wish I could do something to make it all easier for you. Shall we plan a vacation for this month end? My work load should get better by then. Will you be able to take leave from your work?”

Sheila felt extremely happy and said, “That should be great. I will speak to my boss and get some time off for a week or so. If we can book the tickets and make reservations now, I can speak to him and get it done.”

Rohan did not have a way out of this vacation plan. He decided that he should find another approach. He said, “Let me call the travel agent.”

Rohan called the travel agent and learnt from him that the entire trip of one week would cost them at least fifteen grand. Rohan told the travel agent that he would get back to him in a short while.

After discussing with the travel agent, Rohan told Sheila, “Hey. We are lucky. There are some discounts. It costs only only twenty five grand for this trip. It might seem to be a bit higher than those travel websites. But, you know our travel agent. He picks the best of hotels and plans our itinerary to make it completely comfortable for us. And, I know you would not want to compromise as our little one is there with us, too.”

Sheila was aghast at the budget. She did not know what to do.

She said, “What about the investment we planned to do next month? I’m sure we cannot do it if we go for this trip. I assume we need to forego more stuff in our monthly budget if we go for this trip. I, unnecessarily, spent most of your savings for re-decoration of this house. Let’s give it up for now. We will go after a few months.”

Rohan felt relieved and said, “If you say so…”

Rohan called up the travel agent and asked him not to make any bookings for this trip. During the conversation, the travel agent informed Rohan that there is an offer coming up for the forthcoming cricket tournament. But, Rohan, realized that it is expensive than their planned trip. Rohan wanted to go watch cricket in a live stadium since his childhood.

Rohan told Sheila, “I told him to cancel our trip. But, there seems to be one more alternative. Instead of our planned destination, we can go to the city where this cricket tournament is scheduled. It costs only twenty grand. It is lesser than our other vacation. It has been my dream since childhood, you know that.”

Sheila decided to forego everything to make him happy. She said, “Let us go for this cricket tournament. We can plan our investments in the next few months.”

Rohan immediately called his travel agent and made the bookings and reservations for the cricket tournament.

Rohan left for work after a few minutes. He felt guilty the whole day.

Meanwhile, Sheila called the travel agent and found out that the cricket tournament trip is more expensive than the vacation trip she wanted. She decided to deal with him after he reached home that evening.

Rohan returned home in the evening and started talking even before she tried to start the fight.

He said, “Sheila. I’m sorry I lied to you. The cricket tournament is more expensive than the vacation trip. I just wanted to go for the cricket match and did not want to go for the vacation that you planned. So, I lied to you. I’m sorry. I cannot lie to you like this.”

Sheila felt so good and cried. She said, “Thanks. You saved yourself from a big fight. But, for lying, you owe me a thing.”

Rohan asked, “Shall we go on the trip as you planned? I’m ready for it now. I’ll go for the tournament next year or later.”

Sheila said, “As planned, we will not go for any trip. I wish we could go to the vacation. But, you do not like to go there. So, let us not take that trip. I also wish we could go for the cricket destination. But, we need to save now.”

They both felt happy. After reaching work, Rohan thanked the travel agent the next day for calling him immediately and informing about Sheila’s call.